Citation Nr: 1415751	
Decision Date: 04/09/14    Archive Date: 04/15/14

DOCKET NO.  04-24 569	)	DATE
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Baltimore, Maryland


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to an initial disability evaluation in excess of 30 percent for myasthenia gravis, to include cramps in the feet and hands, left eyelid ptosis, diplopia, headaches, a painful thymectomy scar, and fatigue. 


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States


WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The Veteran and his spouse


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Michael L. Marcum, General Attorney

INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1983 to May 2003.

This matter was originally before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2003 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Baltimore, Maryland.  In January 2007, the Veteran appeared at a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  In May 2012, the Board issued a decision that, in part, denied the claim of entitlement to an initial disability evaluation in excess of 30 percent for myasthenia gravis.


ORDER TO VACATE

The Board may vacate an appellate decision at any time upon request of the appellant or his or her representative, or on the Board's own motion, when an appellant has been denied due process of law.  38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.904 (2013).

In September 2013, pursuant to a settlement agreement in the case of National Org. of Veterans' Advocates, Inc. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 725 F.3d 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2013), the Board sent the Veteran a letter notifying him of an opportunity to receive a new decision from the Board that would correct any potential due process error relating to the duties of the VLJ that conducted the January 2007 hearing.  See Bryant v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 488 (2010) (holding that the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(c)(2) apply to a hearing before the Board and that a VLJ has a duty to explain fully the issues and to suggest the submission of evidence that may have been overlooked).  In October 2013, the Veteran responded that he wished to have the prior decision vacated and a new one issued in its place.

Accordingly, the portion of the May 2012 Board decision that denied the claim of entitlement to an initial disability evaluation in excess of 30 percent for myasthenia gravis is vacated.  The remainder of the May 2012 Board decision is undisturbed.



	                        ____________________________________________
	JOAQUIN AGUAYO-PERELES
	Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals